The monster made no sound and was completely silent as it approached Arlan. If it weren't for the emergency light, it would be completely invisible.
'There must be something…'
Now that they were both relatively calm, Arlan had time to think.
The monster wasn't completely invisible, it was as if it distorted space to create the illusion that it wasn't there, but how was it doing that?
Arlan's only clue was the light, for it was only because it flickered periodically, not constantly, that he was able to see it. Arlan guessed that if they were outside the bunker in the sunlight, it would be completely invisible.
With no room to move sideways, Arlan bumped into the right side of the kitchen and was completely trapped by the monster.
Arlan braced himself for the impending attack. Earlier, the monster had attacked him with its teeth, so following the same pattern, the monster lunged at him.
Grabbing a metal tray next to him, Arlan again deflected the monster's bite as it moved again to try to get out of the corner of the kitchen.
But even though the tray managed to deflect the monster's bite slightly, rendering it completely deformed and useless, the monster raised its front paw and scratched the side of Arlan's torso, causing a worse wound than the previous one.
"Ughh!"
At the cost of the wound, Arlan managed to move again and have more room to move. He had made almost a full circle around the kitchen and was about to reach the counter again, where Kaylynn was still hiding.
The first problem he had to solve was to manage to see the monster perfectly and not just its silhouette, which was hard to see because it was moving fast.
It was then that he realized something. In what the monster's silhouette reflected, its head, there was something red.
It was Arlan's own blood that had been left in the monster's mouth from the first time it attacked him.
'It is his skin!'
In an instant, Arlan understood the secret of the monster's invisibility. He didn't know all the details, but he knew the basics.
'Damn it... it's his skin that reflects the light and makes him almost perfectly invisible'
That was why the emergency light allowed him to see its silhouette, as long as the light was not too strong and constant.
But even though he had already understood it, there was still the problem of being able to see it.
'If something managed to cover his skin…'
The first option that came to his mind was blood, but a second later he dismissed the idea. He would bleed out before he could cover the monster, or part of it.
Arlan looked away from the monster for a second when he remembered something perfect that could help him see the monster.
There, near the counter where Kaylynn was hiding, was a red cylinder strapped to the wall, primed and ready for use.
But Arlan didn't have time to reach the extinguisher when the monster attacked him again. This time it threw him to the ground.
To protect himself from the deadly bite, Arlan raised his arm and caught the monster's bite.
Ignoring the pain, Arlan screamed.
"Kaylynn! grab the red cylinder and squeeze the metal part at the top while pointing the hose at the monster!"
Arlan tried to give the best instructions he could as he felt his right arm being torn apart by the monster while he tried with his left hand to block the front paws that were trying to reach his chest.
Kaylynn snapped out of her stupor and looked diagonally at her, clearly seeing the fire extinguisher.
Even though her legs were shaking, and she had practically no strength left. Kaylynn forced herself to stand up and grab the extinguisher from the wall.
Then, following Arlan's instructions, she pointed the black hose at the monster and pulled the lever so hard that her knuckles turned white.
At that moment, white foam shot from the tip of the hose toward the monster. When the foam hit its body, it stopped biting Arlan and turned to defend itself against the strange substance that was now attached to its body.
Steam filled the kitchen, but it had done its job. The monster's body was visible thanks to the foam from the fire extinguisher.
Not waiting any longer, Arlan stood up, forcing his body to do so, raising his left arm, and stabbing the monster, which was in a state of confusion thanks to the foam covering the left side of its body.
Arlan's knife approached the monster's neck and pierced its trachea with a single blow.
The monster felt the impact on its neck and retreated a few steps in pain, but it still did not roar or make a sound.
Blood began to fill the floor and the monster began to stagger down the kitchen hallway, where it could barely fit.
Then its front legs buckled, and its body fell to the floor.
Arlan took the opportunity to kick the monster in the head, which hit the central metal kitchen table, stunning it.
But it didn't stop there. Arlan's eyes changed, his pupils shrank, and he felt a final surge of power to finish the monster.
Arlan jumped over the monster and landed behind it, plunging his knife into its back, then pulling it out and repeating the process.
Kaylynn watched as Arlan went into a frenzy but dared not approach. The bloody scene coupled with the red light made her gag, forcing her to stop watching and just listen to each time the knife went in and out of the monster's already limp body.
At the same time, Arlan seemed completely lost and disoriented. His right arm was shattered, and his chest covered with dozens of claw wounds that had failed to pierce his muscles made him pale with pain, yet Arlan did not stop stabbing until his vision began to blur and his momentum began to fade.
His legs lost strength, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards to the ground.
His pupils slowly returned to normal as he could only see the kitchen ceiling before his eyelids closed.